Power of media...

Of course we all know what the power of the media is. Internet, newspapers, television and radio... whatever comes on any of these channels is taken to be the gospel truth by all around. At least for as long as there is no evidence to the contrary... well today I was seeing the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale and just at the start, there is a scene where a group of soldiers are in a bush as rebels... and at the lower left corner of the screen I saw the name "Mbale". If you are not from Uganda, this is a town in the eastern part of the country. Well I jumped at it but thought it was not the Mbale I know... but a fraction of a second later the confirmation came... "Mbale, Uganda". The scene consisted of what the television uses as the standard picture for freedom fighters' camps. There were jeeps driving around, a lot of heavy artillery and soldiers.

Reminds me of another James Bond that I watched again recently "Diamonds are Forever" In this one there was an announcement of a lady who was captured in "Nairobi, South Africa" :) This was very funny for me of course. Like saying I met with John in Oslo, Italy.

In the end the idea is that media has an influence and I cannot imagine anybody who is not from Uganda imagining that there are no wars in all places after watching these kinds of movies. That said, it was a real bond movie and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.